The 1978 season

Tropical Storm Agnes (1978)

Tropical Storm Agnes peaked at 50 kt in the Western Pacific between July 22, 1978 and July 31, 1978, with a lowest pressure of 980 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Tropical Storm Agnes, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1978 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

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The storm

Basin
Western Pacific
Dates
July 22, 1978 to July 31, 1978
Peak strength
Tropical Storm, 50 kt (58 mph)
Lowest pressure
980 mb (28.94 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
3.8
Identifier
WP091978

Deaths and damage

No source this site reads publishes a machine-readable casualty or damage figure for a storm of this era. The National Hurricane Center’s season tables begin in 1995 and carry deaths and damage only from 2005 in the Atlantic and 2020 in both basins; the US Storm Events record begins in 1996.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Jul 22, 06:0017.8N 114.0E1002 mbTropical storm
Jul 22, 12:0017.5N 114.0E1002 mbTropical storm
Jul 22, 18:0017.0N 114.0E1002 mbTropical storm
Jul 23, 00:0016.7N 114.0E1000 mbTropical storm
Jul 23, 06:0016.7N 113.9E1000 mbTropical storm
Jul 23, 12:0016.5N 113.9E1000 mbTropical storm
Jul 23, 18:0016.3N 114.1E1000 mbTropical storm
Jul 24, 00:0016.5N 114.7E20 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Jul 24, 06:0017.3N 115.2E20 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Jul 24, 12:0018.0N 115.6E25 kt1000 mbTropical depression
Jul 24, 18:0018.7N 115.8E25 kt998 mbTropical depression
Jul 25, 00:0019.3N 115.9E30 kt996 mbTropical depression
Jul 25, 06:0020.3N 115.9E30 kt992 mbTropical depression
Jul 25, 12:0021.2N 115.7E35 kt992 mbTropical storm
Jul 25, 18:0021.5N 115.3E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jul 26, 00:0021.5N 114.8E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jul 26, 06:0021.4N 114.4E50 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jul 26, 12:0021.3N 114.0E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jul 26, 18:0021.3N 113.6E50 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jul 27, 00:0021.3N 113.3E45 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jul 27, 06:0021.3N 112.8E45 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jul 27, 12:0021.2N 112.3E45 kt980 mbTropical storm
Jul 27, 18:0021.1N 112.0E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jul 28, 00:0020.9N 111.9E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jul 28, 06:0020.7N 111.9E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jul 28, 12:0020.4N 112.0E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jul 28, 18:0020.3N 112.4E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jul 29, 00:0020.5N 112.9E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jul 29, 06:0020.9N 113.7E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jul 29, 12:0021.5N 114.4E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jul 29, 18:0022.1N 114.8E45 kt985 mbTropical storm
Jul 30, 00:0022.8N 114.9E40 kt990 mbTropical storm
Jul 30, 06:0023.4N 115.1E30 kt992 mbTropical depression
Jul 30, 12:0023.7N 115.6E994 mbTropical storm
Jul 30, 18:0023.8N 117.0E996 mbMixed
Jul 31, 00:0024.4N 116.8E996 mbMixed
Jul 31, 06:0024.8N 115.0EDisturbance

Other Western Pacific storms of 1978

What this means

A best track is the record a warning agency settles on after the storm, not what it said at the time: position, maximum sustained wind and central pressure every six hours, revised against every observation that came in later. Category is the Saffir-Simpson scale, which runs from Category 1 at 64 kt to Category 5 at 137 kt and reads wind only, so it says nothing about surge or rain. Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the square of the wind through the storm's life, so it counts strength and duration together.

Sources

Storm history from NOAA NCEI’s International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS), which merges the official best track of every warning agency. Live storms, cones, watches and warnings from the National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Archived radar from NOAA’s Level II archive.